Facebook Horizon Aims to Build the Ultimate Social VR Sandbox

Facebook unveils Horizon, a user-generated virtual reality universe designed to be a lasting social destination rather than a simple novelty. The closed beta launches in early 2020, replacing older social VR apps like Spaces and Oculus Rooms.

25 Sep 2019 • 1 min read

Facebook unveils Horizon, a sprawling virtual reality sandbox universe where users build environments, play games, and socialize together. This new experience represents Facebook's most ambitious attempt to create a true VR destination, heavily drawing inspiration from the novel Ready Player One and classic virtual worlds like Second Life.

The platform centers around a central town square and uses intuitive building tools that allow anyone to create custom worlds, interactive games, and virtual items without needing to know how to code. Users explore these user-generated landscapes through portals called Telepods, while human guides known as Horizon Locals help maintain safety and keep trolls at bay.

To make room for this new vision, Facebook shuts down its older social VR applications, Facebook Spaces and Oculus Rooms, in late October. While those previous apps functioned mostly as simple lobbies for VR users, Horizon is designed from the ground up to be a comprehensive world where users spend extensive amounts of time creating and connecting.

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